Last.



Umransrkrss 'PATENT ortica.

JOHN DION, OF NORTH ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

KRENTLEIELARNOLD HINGE LAST COMPANY, OF DETROIT MICHIGAN.

LAST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 28, 1908.

Application med January 26, 1903. serai No. 140,453.

ington, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Lasts, of which the following description, in

connection with the accompanying drawings,

is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.l

My invention relates to lasts, and is more particularly intended for a follower orsecond-last, sometimes called a filler or shoeform, being a cheaper and usually less accurate form of lastthan those on which the shoe is made. y

After a shoe has been puttogether and is ready for the finishing operations, it is necessary that it should be maintained in its desired shape and prevented from collapsing, shrinking, and otherwise changing its form and losing its. style, and yet the cost of first-lasts is so great as to render it ineXpedient to keep on hand the very large number thereof which would be necessary if they were used in all the operations, and accord-4 ingly various forms of followers have been provided, many of which have expansible fore-parts, thereby permitting the same follower to be used with slightly different shapes and sizes of shoes, so that it is unnecessary to go to the expense of changing all the followers each timethe first-lasts are changed in style or shape.

It should be of the very first importance that a follower should keep the upper in the same shape as the first-last, especially in the forward portion of the fore-part, and yet when a fore-part is split or made laterally eXpansible in some manner it is evident that it tends to distort the shoe upper, and this is l especially true when it has to expand very' much; and accordingly one chief purpose of my present invention is to provide means, which, while permitting the follower to U occupy varying space in the shoe, will always keep the same shape or contour of last in contact with the upper. i I accomplish this object by providing below and independent of the hinged portion or connection a yielding bottom or section, preferably in the shape of a broad, flat spring, which tends to lift the larger body portion of the last and h old the same in snug contact with the shoe. upper.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows my invention applied to an ordinary hinged last, partly broken away for convenience of illustration; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof Fig. 3 is a lcross-sectional view MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF on the line 3-3, Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a bottom V plan view showing a further feature of construction.

In practice, my invention is designed to be employed with a non-eXpansible hinged follower A.

As herein shown the fore-part a is provided with a broad leaf-spring a secured to the bottom of the fore-part a in vany con venient manner, as by screws a2, the end of the spring'being preferably set in to recess a3. r The spring a is curved downwardly at a4 below the normal bottom line of the last, so as to normally give great depth from the top of the fore-part to the bottom of the spring,v and the latter is preferably rounded or bent inwardly at its inward end a5 so as to permit it to slide back and forth onthe bottom of the last as it is compressed when inserted in a shoe, the bend a4 being vertically below the ball of the last for coperating with the fullshaped lastto the best advantage.

As already stated, my invention is for use in manufacturing and is' to be distinguished from display forms and shoe trees or fillers used after the shoe is manufactured for displaying the same in show windows or preventing the shoe from curling up when removed fromthe foot of the wearer, my invention requiring a regular last having a heelpart hinged to turn up against the forepart and both parts being fullsize and together having the full contour of a com lete iirstlast. The edges thereof are roun ed or bent as indicated at a, Fig. 3, to prevent its creasing the innersole or sock-lining.

For certain pur oses it is desirable that the yielding bottom s ould be coeXtensiv'e with the bottom of the last, and accordingly in Fig. 4 I have shown the spring a/ as provided with a section or plate a7. This may be leather board or other material capable of accommodating itself to the changing shape as it is forced in a shoe with the last, and it may be held in any suitable manner, being herein shown as extending beneath the front end of the spring, which projects through a slot as therein, and as secured to the rear end of the spring by a wire or sta le a".

I intend my inventlon to be restricted to lasts capable of use in manufacturing shoes and to include lthe provision of a yielding and flexing bottom, or any means for yieldingly holding the body of the last upwardly against lthe shoe upper, intending herein to distinguish 'from the previous constructions, in which the bottom of the last has been hinged to the heel-part, andthe upper portion has been yieldingly connected to said hinged bottom part to move against the sides and to of the upper.

Having dscribed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A last comprising a -forepart and a heelpart together having the full contour of a complete first-last, the bottom of the fore portion of the last being integral with said forepart, and means held longitudinally and vertically yielding at the bottom of the forepart of the last located mainly beneath the ball of the forepart and capable of moving the entire orepart upwardly in parallelism to itself when in a shoe, said forepart, above vsaid yielding means, being hinged to said heel-part.

2. A last having a wide leaf spring extending longitudinally along its bottom with a downward curve vertically below the ball of the last, and having its opposite ends contacting respectively with the toe and shank of the last, and one end 'fast and the other ol said ends loosc on the last, b eing slidably rctained in the last.

3. A last having a -full size i'olepai't, and a full size heel-part hinged to turn np against part secured to the bottom oi the. i'orcpart oiI the last and free to slide at one end lengthwisc ofA said bottom, being held normally in a curve extending longitudinally oit the last7 projecting at its intermediate portion in line with the ball of the last below the normal bottom line of the last, and engaging the said bottom at its opposite ends, i'or pressing said 'forepart bodily in a vertical direction away from the bottom of the shoe.

In testimony whereof, l have signed nl v name to this specilication, in the presence ol' two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN DION. Witnesses 1 ILLIAM J. SiucnnAN, EDWARD F. MANLEY.

said forepart, and a yielding, ilexible bottoni 

